Entertainment
Swift streams to the top again in Spotify’s 2023 Wrapped
By Jake Beardslee · November 29, 2023
In brief…
- Taylor Swift was most streamed artist globally with over 26 billion streams
- Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was top song with 1.6 billion streams
- Bad Bunny’s album topped charts again with 4.5 billion streams
- “The Joe Rogan Experience” was number one podcast globally for fourth straight year
- Cultural events and trends drove listening spikes throughout the year
Spotify has released its annual Wrapped recapping the top music and podcast trends of 2023. Globally, Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist with over 26 billion streams, followed by Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, and Peso Pluma. Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was the top song with 1.6 billion streams, trailed by “Kill Bill” by SZA and “As It Was” by Harry Styles. For albums, Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” topped the charts again, followed by Taylor Swift’s “Midnights,” SZA’s “SOS,” The Weeknd’s “Starboy,” and KAROL G’s “MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO.”
On the podcast front, “The Joe Rogan Experience” was number one globally for the fourth straight year. “Call Her Daddy” took second place again, followed by “Huberman Lab,” “anything goes with emma chamberlain,” and “On Purpose with Jay Shetty.” Spotify said “Eight of the top 25 podcasts on the global top lists are Spotify Owned & Licensed podcasts.”
Major cultural moments impacted listening trends as well. Eurovision helped songs by Loreen and Käärijä reach Spotify’s daily top 10. Gen Z continued embracing “genreless/genre-hybrid” music. Spotify saw an 85% increase in Colombian listening to Mexican music. Indian classical music streams grew 500% with 45% of listeners under 25. Afrobeats had 550% growth since 2017 with Rema’s “Calm Down” topping 1 billion streams.
Specific events also spurred spikes, like the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day in February, TV finales in March, a “new sports craze and the return of a beloved children’s movie” in May, and social media memes in October.